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THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF 

FRANCE. 


eP''  <° 

By  The  Rev.  L.  T.  Chamberlain,  D.  D. 


Delivered  at  the  House  of  Mrs.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes, 

New  York  City, 

at  a  Parlor  Meeting  called  by  the 
Woman’s  Auxiliary  of  the  Franco-American  Committee, 

February  14,  1898. 


POUGHKEEPSIE: 

A.  V.  Haight,  Printer,  12  Liberty  St. 

1 898. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/evangelizationofOOcham 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  FRANCE. 


I  am  sincerely  grateful,  Mrs.  President,  for  the 
kind  words  in  which  you  have  introduced  me  to 
this  audience  of  your  own  friends,  and  friends  of 
the  noble  women  associated  with  you,  and  friends 
also,  I  trust  I  may  add,  of  French  evangelization. 
To  the  full,  I  share  your  regret  at  the  unavoida¬ 
ble  absence  of  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock,  one  who  has 
an  exceptionally  thorough  knowledge  of  France, 
and  whose  interest  in  her  spiritual  welfare,  none 
can  doubt.  I  had  hoped  that  he  would  tell  us  of 
those  “  White  Fields  ”  which  he  had  so  recently 
re-visited,  and  show  us  the  self-denying  mission- 
workers,  their  varied  and  faithful  missionary  op¬ 
erations,  the  opportunities  numberless  which  call 
for  instant  response,  and  the  glorious  promise  of 
labour’s  abundant  reward.  Had  he  so  spoken,  it 
would  have  become  evident  to  us,  I  am  sure,  that 
we  had  no  reason  to  be  hopeless  of  the  evangeliza¬ 
tion  of  that  wonderful  land.  Doubtless  we  should 
have  been  convinced,  as  we  listened,  that  there 
was,  for  us,  no  more  reason  of  discouragement, 
than  for  one  who  might  be  standing  in  a  quarry- 


4 


yard, — around  him  half-wrought  blocks,  unfinished 
columns,  not  even  the  top-stone  carved, — yet  in 
the  very  gathering  of  elements,  in  the  very  mass 
of  materials,  a  sure  prophecy  of  the  building  that 
should  some  day  rise  in  beauty  and  in  strength. 

If  I  read  the  signs  aright,  we  are  approaching 
a  crisis  in  the  destiny  of  the  world.  It  cannot  be 
meaningless,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  now  the 
barriers  of  space  and  time  are  so  largely  removed; 
that  earth,  and  air,  and  sea,  and  sky,  are  yielding 
up  their  secrets;  that  energies  elemental,  limit¬ 
less,  are  proffering  us  their  power;  and  that, 
along  with  this  understanding  of  nature  and  this 
use  of  her  treasured  might,  the  mind  of  man  is 
still  asking  questions  about  things  which  are 
deeper  than  science  and  higher  than  art.  The 
stimulus,  the  movement,  the  acceleration,  the  mo¬ 
mentum, — all  this  is  bound  to  be  influential  in 
results,  as  surely  as  harvests  spring  from  seed,  or 
waves  arise  at  summons  of  the  wind.  These  are 
times  for  forces  which  have  primal  place  and 
pristine  glory;  forces  which  can  bear  the  strain, 
and  guide  the  urgency,  and  assume  the  throne ! 

To-day,  therefore,  we  are  to  cheer  ourselves 
anew  with  the  assurance  that  there  is  but  one 


5 


source  of  such  regnant  powers,  and  that  that  single 
source  is  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord.  There  is  but  one 
Sun  of  Righteousness;  and,  believe  it,  around  that 
central  attraction  all  orbits  will  sooner  or  later 
swing,  and  from  that  matchless  radiance  all  stars 
will  draw  their  light. 

Look  back,  for  a  moment,  at  the  history  which 
has  already  been  written.  Time  was  when  such 
civilization  as  the  world  boasted,  was  chiefly  alien 
to  that  Israel  from  which  came,  at  last,  the  “  De¬ 
sire  of  all  The  Nations.”  On  pagan  foundations 
culture  was  mainly  built,  and  by  pagan  ideals 
culture  was  mainly  inspired.  But,  contrariwise, 
it  has  already  come  to  pass  that  the  world’s  best 
thought,  the  world’s  best  culture,  is  indebted  to, 
is  centered  in,  Christianity’s  teaching  and  spirit. 
Nor,  in  saying  this,  do  I  forget  that  Christianity, 
in  definite  form,  has  never  prevailed  among  even 
the  half  of  the  human  race.  I  do  not  forget  that 
beyond  our  Western  Christendom,  stretches  a  vast 
Orient,  with  beliefs  and  institutions  in  no  wise 
Christian.  I  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the 
Dark  Continent  is  still  almost  unpenetrated  by  the 
Gospel’s  light.  I  do  not  ignore  the  fact  that 
within  Christendom  itself,  there  are  multitudes 


6 


who  not  only  reject  Christianity,  but  openly  oppose 
it.  True  is  it,  nevertheless,  that  the  Christ  we 
love  and  the  Christianity  we  advocate,  are  now  the 
life  and  the  light  of  the  world’s  best  culture. 

In  truth,  how  fares  it  with  that  immemorial 
East?  Are  not  the  systems  which  there  prevail, 
chiefly  the  result  of  past  ages  ?  Have  they  present 
power  ?  What  contribution  is  the  non-Christian 
East  now  making  to  the  constructive,  controlling 
ideas  of  our  age  ?  Now  and  then  some  student  is 
attracted  by  the  refinements  of  Oriental  meta¬ 
physics;  and  here  and  there,  in  Persian,  or  Assy¬ 
rian,  or  Indian,  or  Chinese  morals,  we  may  find 
the  suggestion,  the  analogy,  of  a  Christian  precept. 
But  as  for  mental,  spiritual  force,  such  as  either 
rules,  or  is  apparently  destined  to  rule,  the  modern 
world,  the  East  is  as  barren  as  the  drifting  sand 
or  the  wind-swept  pavement.  The  star  that  now 
guides  even  the  intelligence  of  the  nations  is  in 
the  West.  Where  Christianity  is,  there  is  the  seat 
of  intellectual  dominion. 

But  let  us  consider  history’s  verdict  in  another 
light.  Confessedly,  there  still  are  wrongs  innu¬ 
merable, — sheer  violations  of  both  equity  and 
good-will.  The  rights  of  man  are  still  widely 


% 


7 

disregarded.  The  sufferings  of  man  are  often 
scorned.  In  many  an  instance,  strength  crushes 
weakness,  knowledge  overreaches  ignorance, 
wealth  despises  poverty,  classes  high  in  the  social 
scale  seem  bent  on  broadening  the  gulf  between 
themselves  and  those  beneath.  You  look  upon 
the  existing  conditions,  in  even  so-called  Christian 
lands,  and  it  doubtless  sometimes  seems  to  you 
that  moral  evil,  social  injustice,  political  oppression, 
are  acquiring  a  constantly  increasing  strength. 
There  is  enough  of  mutual  hatred,  and  more  than 
enough  of  mutual  greed,  to  make  the  whole  head 
sick  and  the  whole  heart  faint.  The  cloud,  the 
gloom,  the  darkness,  shuts  you  in,  until  you  almost 
question  whether  even  Christendom  has  greatly 
bettered  the  ancient  times.  The  individual  dis¬ 
honored,  the  family  assailed,  the  State  corrupted, 
the  Church  herself  put  to  shame  in  the  very  house 
of  her  friends ! 

But  look  at  events  in  their  larger  scope.  Whence 
has  come  the  light  in  which  those  foul  facts  are 
seen  to  be  so  foul,  and  those  iniquities  recognized 
as  so  unjust?  What  is  it  which,  in  soberest  con¬ 
trast,  has  already  made  conditions  in  Christian 
lands,  dark  as  those  conditions  still  are,  show 


8 


white  against  the  blackness  of  the  ancient  world? 
What  is  it  which,  after  all,  everywhere  tends  to 
uplift,  and  is  everywhere  actually  uplifting,  mod¬ 
ern  life,  as  the  moon’s  attraction  lifts  up  the 
tides  ?  To  those  inquiries  there  is,  there  can  be, 
but  one  reply.  It  is  Christianity,  with  its  Father¬ 
hood  of  God  and  Brotherhood  of  man  !  The  divine 
compassion  towards  weakness,  and  pitifulness 
towards  suffering,  and  self-sacrificing  mercy  for 
the  victims  of  sin,  together  with  that  justice  which 
is  over  and  under  all, — that,  on  the  one  hand  !  On 
the  other  hand,  the  divine  conception  of  man  as 
made  in  God’s  image;  bearing,  even  in  his  degra¬ 
dation,  something  of  the  celestial  likeness;  en¬ 
titled,  under  all  conditions,  to  reverent  regard ; 
capable  always  of  restoration  to  his  birthright  her¬ 
itage;  clothed  evermore  with  the  glory  of  One 
who  stood  in  his  stead,  and  was  lifted  up  for  his 
exaltation!  Those  are  the  Christian  forces, — 
forces  which  have  set  themselves  against  every 
woe,  every  wrong;  forces  which  are  destined, 
some  day,  to  bring  in  a  world-wide  good-will. 

Accordingly,  with  such  conception  of  the  times 
in  which  we  live,  and  with  such  well-grounded 
confidence  as  touching  the  ways  and  will  of  God, 


9 


let  us  now  turn  to  that  France,  for  whose  evangel¬ 
ization  we  work  and  hope.  See,  I  pray  you,  in 
that  same  loved  land,  those  tokens  which  show 
that  there  also  there  is  stir,  and  movement,  and 
progress.  Nor  can  I  forbear  including  in  this 
swift  summary,  the  political  interests  of  France. 
It  seems  scarce  possible  that  less  than  thirty  years 
ago,  hard  after  the  news  of  Sedan’s  disaster  and 
the  Emperor’s  surrender,  the  National  Assembly 
declared  the  overthrow  of  the  Empire  and  pro¬ 
claimed  the  Government  of  the  National  Defence. 
Who  could  have  foreseen  that  the  Republic  which 
was  framed  in  such  delirium  of  excitement,  with 
such  lack  of  fitting  preparation, — the  problems  to 
be  faced  enough  to  daunt  the  bravest, — who  could 
have  foreseen  that  the  Republic  thus  launched, 
was  to  outride  the  stormy  sea,  and  come  even  to 
the  century’s  close,  with  the  tricolor  still  floating 
proudly  from  both  foremast  and  mainmast  ?  There 
have  been  crises  within  that  period,  and  disorders, 
and  threatened  revolutions ;  but  I  take  it  that  the 
French  Republic  is,  at  present,  stronger  in  the 
real  love  and  reverence  of  the  people  than  it  has 
ever  been  before.  Think  of  a  country  which, 
within  a  hundred  years,  has  been  twice  wasted  by 


IO 


civil  war,  three  times  invaded,  six  times  rent  by 
reckless  revolution,  yet  a  country  which  is  to-day 
among  the  foremost  of  Christendom’s  nations! 

Bear  in  mind,  also,  the  progress  which  modern 
France  has  made  in  educational  directions.  Once, 
the  utmost  darkness  of  even  the  Dark  Ages  set¬ 
tling  like  a  pall  over  France, — a  gloom  that  might 
be  felt,  like  that  of  Egypt!  After  that,  centuries 
of  an  illiteracy  which  Roman  Catholicism  fostered 
rather  than  dispelled.  But  to-day,  a  system  of 
French  common  schools  which  veriest  dema¬ 
gogues  are  constrained  to  applaud,  and  political 
parties  to  praise,  and  which  even  clericalism 
hardly  dares  to  oppose!  Who  can  estimate  the 
possibilities  of  good  which  lie  enfolded  in  such  a 
giving  of  schools,  of  education,  to  the  common 
people  of  France,  to  the  bourgeoisie  ? 

Recall,  too,  the  marvelous  advance  in  point  of 
at  least,  religiousness,  since  the  days  of  the  great 
Revolution,  or  even  since  the  days  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war.  An  old-time  denial  of  life  beyond 
the  grave ;  a  later  scoffing  at  the  very  idea  of  God ; 
yet  within  our  memory,  and  in  contrast  with  all 
that,  Gambetta  declaring  that  France  must  have  a 
religion  free  and  real;  Victor  Hugo  wishing  that 


a  copy  of  the  Bible  might  be  placed  in  every  home 
in  France;  the  great  Jules  Favre  dying  in  the 
Protestant  faith,  and  buried  from  the  humble 
meeting-house  where  he  was  wont  to  worship ; 
and  all  competent  observers  agreeing  that  France 
is  now  weary  of  negations,  and  dissatisfied  with 
materialistic  teachings. 

Consider,  again,  the  modified  relation  which 
France  now  sustains  to  the  authority  of  Rome. 
Time  was  when  the  “bright,  consummate  flower” 
of  devotion  to  Roman  Catholicism,  was  the  France 
that  dyed  her  very  garments  in  the  blood  of  Prot¬ 
estants,  and  registered  her  vow  that  the  Papal 
religion  should  remain  forever  as  the  faith  of  the 
land.  But  now,  with  the  Jesuits  under  ban;  an 
Archbishop  fined,  in  court,  for  disobedience  to  the 
orders  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship ;  Protest¬ 
ants  admitted  to  high  Government  positions ;  the 
lamented  President  Carnot  publicly  affirming  his 
affectionate  regard  for  French  Protestants;  city 
and  town  and  village  alike,  open  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  sentiment  of  religious  lib¬ 
erty  in  the  very  air;  the  authority  of  Rome  is 
broken,  where  once  it  reigned  supreme.  I  see  not 
how  the  old  days  of  Papal  intolerance  can  ever 


return  to  La  Belle  France.  Even  though  the  Re¬ 
public  should  be  overthrown,  the  principles  of 
civil  and  spiritual  freedom,  now  so  familiar  to  the 
French  people,  would  remain  in  living  force. 

Or,  once  more,  look  directly  at  Protestantism 
itself,  in  France.  The  record  is  well  known. 
Three  centuries  ago,  a  third  of  the  French  people 
Protestant;  then  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo¬ 
mew’s  Day;  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes;  the  dragonnades;  the  ever- recurring 
horrors  of  proscription  and  exile!  Even  so  late 
as  the  early  part  of  this  present  century,  the 
earnestly  devoted  Protestant  pastors  in  France, 
were  only  a  few  score.  Protestant  forms  of  wor¬ 
ship  were  disesteemed.  Protestant  church-build¬ 
ings  were  suffered  to  fall  into  decay.  The  spirit 
of  earnest,  hopeful  evangelization  was  virtually 
unknown.  Now,  the  faithful,  consecrated,  self- 
sacrificing,  French  Protestant  pastors  are  num¬ 
bered  by  the  hundred.  Their  congregations  are 
worshipfully  devout.  Their  church-buildings  are 
cared  for  with  reverent  regard.  And  though  the 
material  resources  of  French  Protestants  are 
comparatively  meagre,  I  question  whether  any 
churches,  in  any  land,  are  doing  more  for  the 


i3 


spread  of  the  Gospel,  in  proportion  to  the  means 
possessed ! 

What  now,  I  ask,  if  in  such  soil,  where  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  holy  power  are  certainly  present;  where 
the  opportunities  of  further  advance  are  count¬ 
less;  where  the  thirty  and  sixty  and  hundred -fold 
of  reward  await  our  effort, — what,  if  in  such  soil 
we  sow  the  abundant  seed? 

And  yet,  it  may  be  that  that  suggestion  wakens 
more  than  one  mind  here  to  the  wonder  why,  in 
even  such  a  beneficent  crisis,  it  should  be  needful 
to  ask  the  aid  of  American  friends.  Listen,  then, 
for  one  further  moment.  Have  all  of  you  reflected 
that  the  total  enumeration  of  Protestantism  in 
France,  includes  not  more  than  seven  hundred 
thousand  souls?  That  though  you  reckon  those 
whose  allegiance  is  merely  nominal,  you  still  come 
short  of  one  in  fifty?  Have  you  realized  what  it 
means,  that  there  is  but  a  single  devoted  Protest¬ 
ant  pastor  to  each  forty  thousand  of  the  inhabit¬ 
ants?  Have  you  set  in  its  true  relation  to  such 
facts,  that  further  fact  already  noted,  that  the 
Protestants  of  France  are,  for  the  most  part,  poor? 
Yet  put  that  situation  over  against  the  situation  in 
this  land  of  ours !  Here,  the  numerical  preponder- 


i4 


ance,  the  social  dominance,  overwhelmingly  on 
the  side  of  the  Protestant  faith !  Here,  one  in 
eight  of  the  entire  population,  a  member  of  an 
evangelical  church  “in  good  and  regular  stand¬ 
ing!”  Here,  an  ordained  evangelical  minister  to 
every  seven  hundred  of  the  people !  Here,  the 
greater  part  of  our  vast  and  ever-increasing 
wealth,  in  the  hands  of  Protestant  possessors!  In 
the  unmistakable  sharpness  of  that  contrast,  is  it 
possible  not  to  perceive  that  we  are  in  duty  bound 
to  give  our  aid? 

Suppose,  for  the  moment,  that  French  Protest¬ 
ants  made  no  appeal.  Suppose  that  they  stretched 
out  no  hand,  and  that  they  spoke  to  us  not  one 
entreating  word.  It  still  would  be  ours  to  proffer 
help.  By  the  love  we  bear  the  one  great  King 
and  His  one  great  kingdom ;  by  our  inheritance  in 
the  fellowship  of  the  saints;  by  our  standing  in 
the  brotherhood  of  man;  we  are  called  to  send  to 
France  our  bestowals,  and  for  her  to  lift  on  high 
our  prayers.  Doomed  are  we,  in  our  own  spiritual 
health,  in  our  own  spiritual  life,  if  we  deny  the 
impulse  which  prompts  us  to  send  abroad  our  gen¬ 
erous,  gladsome  gifts. 

Sometimes  there  comes  to  me  the  vision  of  what 


i5 


it  would  mean  to  us,  to  the  world,  to  have  France 
Protestant,  to  have  France  evangelical!  I  do  not 
know,  good  friends,  what  you  may  customarily 
think  with  regard  to  the  capabilities  of  the  French 
nature  and  the  French  character.  I  know  that  in 
many  minds  there  is  the  notion  that  the  French 
are  too  mercurial,  too  volatile,  to  take  an  impress 
which  is  grand  and  enduring.  I  have  heard  it 
affirmed  that  what  a  Frenchman  proclaims  with 
passionate  ardor  to-day,  he  will  be  ready  to  de¬ 
nounce,  with  equally  passionate  ardor,  to-morrow. 
But  history  has  recorded  no  such  verdict  respecting 
French  fidelity  to  our  most  holy  faith !  So  far  from 
that,  history  witnesses  the  fact  that  no  soil  of 
Christendom  is  richer  in  the  blood  of  Protestant 
martyrs,  than  the  soil  of  France.  Is  it  token  of  in¬ 
ability  to  be  steadfast,  that  those  who  put  to  death 
French  women  and  children,  for  their  love  to 
Christ,  felt  compelled  first  to  order  their  tongues 
torn  out,  lest  their  dying  words  should  make  new 
converts  for  their  faith?  Do  you  remember  the 
reply  of  the  old  Huguenot,  when  the  wrathful 
monarch  said,  “  I  will  smite  your  faith  as  with  the 
blows  of  vengeance!”  “Sire,”  was  the  calm  re¬ 
sponse,  “it  is  an  anvil  which  hath  worn  out  many 


a  hammer.”  And  the  French  are  impetuous? 
Yes,  I  thank  God  that  along  with  the  steadfastness 
whose  emblem  is  the  rock,  they  have  the  vehe¬ 
mence  whose  sign  is  the  whirlwind  or  the  fire! 
What  a  Frenchman  believes,  he  wishes  all  others 
to  believe.  He  has  a  genius  for  advocacy  and  per¬ 
suasion.  His  is  the  temperament  which  seeks 
the  fore-front  of  battle,  and  sets  at  naught  all 
adverse  odds.  France  is  to-day  the  source  of 
immeasurable  influence.  On  fields  of  battle,  it  is 
possible,  of  course,  for  incompetent  leadership  to 
shame  her  with  defeat;  but  in  the  realms  of  phi¬ 
losophy,  of  science,  of  literature,  of  art,  of  man¬ 
ners,  of  morals,  her  dominance  still  is  felt.  For 
good  or  evil,  she  affects  all  civilized  lands. 

Put,  accordingly,  her  intellect,  her  emotion,  her 
flaming  zeal,  on  the  side  of  Christian  truth;  let  the 
depths  of  her  impassioned  nature  be  stirred  by  a 
power  divine;  let  her  persuasiveness  be  enkindled 
for  the  Cross  of  Christ;  and  you  will  have  a  mis¬ 
sionary  force  which  will  put  to  blush  our  more 
timid  advance.  Make  France  Biblically  Christian, 
and  you  will  have  done  much  toward  evangelizing 
the  world. 

And  you  will  permit  me,  in  closing,  one  word 


with  reference  to  the  French  Societies,  through 
which  we  work.  I  can  testify  that  those  Societies 
are  venerable  with  their  years  of  service.  They 
are  illustrious  with  their  devotion  to  their  work. 
They  are  sagacious  in  their  present  unity  of  action 
and  of  plan.  They  understand  the  needs  of  their 
loved  France.  Their  more  than  two  hundred 
mission  stations,  with  more  than  four  hundred 
branches,  bear  witness  to  their  zeal.  They  de¬ 
serve  our  aid.  To  the  pastors  and  churches  of 
America  they  have  abundant  right  to  make  appeal. 
I  would  that  our  missionary  boards  could  devise 
some  way  in  which  to  give  them  help.  I  wish 
that  conferences,  and  presbyteries,  and  synods, 
might  take  effective  action  in  their  behalf.  It 
is  pitiful  that  the  moderate  sum  which  they  re¬ 
quire,  cannot  be  readily  gathered.  For,  I  again 
assure  you,  there  are  few  mission-fields  in  which 
the  rewarding  results  would  be  so  abundant  as  in 
France.  It  is  for  us,  accordingly,  to  do  what  in 
us  lies. 

Do  you  recall  the  words  with  which  Mr.  Ruskin 
closes  the  first  volume  of  the  “  Stones  of  Venice?  ” 
He  says:  “During  the  last  thirty-five  years,  the 
best  taught  of  our  English  people,  the  richest  in 


1 8 


time  and  money,  having  more  leisure,  knowledge 
and  power,  than  any  other  portion  of  the  nation, 
have  visited  the  continent,  at  the  rate  of  many 
thousands  a  year.  These,  we  might  suppose,  be¬ 
holding,  as  they  traveled,  the  condition  of  the 
States  in  which  the  Papal  religion  is  professed, 
and  being,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  enlightened 
section  of  a  great  Protestant  nation,  would  have 
been  animated  with  some  desire  to  dissipate  the 
Romanist  errors,  and  to  communicate  to  others 
the  better  knowledge  which  they  themselves  pos¬ 
sessed.  I  doubt  not  but  that  the  Prince  of  Peace 
has  watched  each  one  of  these  travelers,  and  kept 
count  for  him  of  his  travelling  expenses,  and  of 
their  distribution,  in  a  manner  of  which  neither 
the  traveler  nor  his  courier  was  at  all  informed. 
I  doubt  not,  moreover,  that  such  accounts  have 
literally  been  kept  for  all  of  us,  and  that  a  day  will 
come  when  they  will  be  made  clearly  legible  to 
us,  and  when  we  shall  see  on  one  side  of  the  page, 
a  great  sum,  accounted  for  in  this  manner: — To 
wooden-spoons,  nut-crackers,  and  jewelry,  bought 
at  Geneva,  and  elsewhere  among  the  Alps,  so 
much;  to  shell  cameos  and  bits  of  mosaic,  bought 
at  Rome,  so  much ;  to  coral  horns  and  lava 


i9 


brooches,  bought  at  Naples,  so  much;  to  glass 
beads  at  Venice,  and  gold  filigree  at  Genoa,  so 
much ;  to  pictures,  and  statues,  and  ornaments, 
everywhere,  so  much;  to  entertainments,  and 
good  places  for  seeing  sights,  so  much;  to  ball 
dresses,  and  general  vanities,  so  much. 

This,  I  say,  will  be  the  sum  on  one  side  of  the 
page,  and  on  the  other  will  be  written,  To  the 
struggling  Protestant  churches  of  France,  Swit¬ 
zerland,  and  Piedmont,  so  much.” 

He  adds, — and  the  suggestion  is  for  us  while  at 
home  no  less  than  when  abroad, — “  Had  we  not 
better  do  this  piece  of  statistics,  for  ourselves,  in 
time?” 

My  friends,  the  hand  of  God  is  surely  with  us. 
For  Him,  nothing  is  too  great.  Listen!  On  the 
eighteenth  of  October,  sixteen  hundred  and  eighty- 
five,  in  the  royal  palace  of  Versailles,  Louis  XIV., 
at  the  instigation  of  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
signed  the  fatal  Revocation.  In  that  palace, 
Bousset  had  flattered  despotism  and  eulogized 
persecution.  Yet  in  that  same  palace,  on  the  sec¬ 
ond  of  November,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  in  a  room  not  far  from  the  chamber  where 
the  “  Grand  Monarch  ”  breathed  his  last,  the 


20 


descendants  of  Huguenots,  by  permission  of  the 
Authorities,  held  Protestant  worship,  and  preached 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  There  the  “  Church  of  the 
Desert  ”  found  romantic  sanctuary,  and  chanted 
the  old  triumphal  psalms ! 

Let  us  bate  not  one  jot  of  heart  or  hope.  Left 
to  myself,  I  should  long  ago  have  despaired.  But 
whoso  lifts  his  eyes  to  the  eternal  hills,  finds  his 
faith  renewed.  I  know  that  the  truth  which,  of 
old,  won  its  triumphant  way  in  Ephesus,  and 
Athens,  and  Corinth,  and  Rome,  will  some  day 
make  even  Paris  its  friend  and  ally.  I  know  that 
that  Gospel  of  Christ  which,  in  the  beginning, 
armed  Paganism  assailed  and  Judaism  condemned, 
which  despotism  flouted  and  heathen  philosophy 
despised,  yet  which  vanquished  every  foe, — I 
know  that  that  Gospel  will,  sooner  or  later,  claim 
France  as  its  own.  He  who  was  lifted  up,  is  even 
now  drawing  all  men  unto  Himself.  The  dawn 
advances  !  Let  us  give  and  work  and  pray ! 


